Comment:This past Semptember Myself and 5 others went on a safari through Kenya and Tanzania. Although I booked the trip through a travel agent out of Nairobi I just want to tell you how much we enjoyed our week in Tanzania with Leopard Tours. Our driver Salum Was so gracious and knowledgeable about all the wildlife and the land. We learned so much from him. When I come back I will be requesting him again. Everything was very top notch and exceeded all my expectations. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. Thank you so much

2012-04-23 07:39:02 - Pixie Basson

Date:

March 2012

Duration:

6 days

Parks visited:

Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngoro ngoro.

Guide Name:

William

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Comment:I was surprised to read the three bad reviews on the site, as our experience overall was excellent.
The tour wasn't booked with Leopard Tours direct, but through Bench International from Australia, which may have made a difference. Southern Cross Safaris organised the Nairobi/Arusha sector. There was a slight glitch in Arusha, as one of our party of three had been omitted from their list, necessitating another vehicle, but this was pleasantly and swiftly rectified. The driver was friendly, helpful, patient and knowledgeable, the accommodation was good, especially Tloma Lodge which was terrific, and we enjoyed the food. All in all, a very pleasant experience.

2011-01-22 10:41:09 - Warren

Date:

December 2010

Duration:

8 days

Parks visited:

Mikumi, Selous

Guide Name:

Omari

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Comment:My family recently used Leopard Tours for the second time for a safari in Tanzania. On our first trip in December 2009 we did the northern circuit. Our most recent trip was the southern circuit.

Our trip in 2009 went very well. On our most recent trip Leopard Tours really disappointed us. The company was very unprofessional and once our trip was paid in full in advance none of the administrative staff had any interest in taking care of us.

When we arrived in Dar Es Salaam one of the two bags we checked on our Qatar Airways flight did not arrive. The Leopard Tours representative at the airport told us this was a common occurrence and that when the bag arrived; it would be put on a small plane and flown to where we were staying in the bush. We decided to leave Dar Es Salaam the next morning without it. So my wife and I started our vacation on safari with no change of clothing! It took several days to track our bag down and after that the Leopard Tours offices in Dar Es Salaam and Arusha were not helpful with getting it to us. We were told that it would be put on a bus and we would have to make a detour of several hours to get it. When we responded that putting it on a bus was unacceptable and not what was promised, we were told that we would have to pay extra to get it delivered. After three days we arranged ourselves for the bag to get delivered to us, which was not easy as by that time we were at a remote tented camp in the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania.

We were also very surprised and dismayed by the accommodations the company arranged for us on first night at the New Africa Hotel in Dar Es Salaam and the following two nights we spent at Vuma Hills Tented Camp at Mikumi.

The New Africa Hotel was not sold out and initially refused to put our children in a room next to me and my wife’s. Additionally, they were having construction done on the floor right above the rooms they placed us in. It was very noisy and as we had just travelled from the UAE we were exhausted and just wanted to sleep. Although we spent a considerable amount of time at reception and on the phone with the Leopard Tours Dar Es Salaam office we were unable to get any help. We finally gave up.

The Vuma Hills Tented Camp was run down and dirty. We had to ask for towels and toiletries. The meals were very unappetizing. We couldn’t wait to leave and were surprised we were even charged for drinking water with our meals.

With what we paid you for our safari we couldn’t believe we were booked into such substandard accommodations.

The final issue is that we were misinformed about the distances and driving time needed between camps. When we booked the safari, were told that it would take approximately 3 hours to drive from Dar Es Salaam to Vuma Hills and another 2 ½ hours from Vuma Hills to Selous Game Reserve. Had we known the actual time it took to travel by car would be so much longer we would have opted to fly to the camps rather than have car and driver. Because it had taken us so long to arrive at Vuma Hills and we were exhausted from lack of sleep and out of sorts because we had no luggage the thought of driving 9 hours or so to Selous was unbearable, so we paid out of pocket to fly from Mikumi to Selous. Our driver met up with us there.

2011-01-13 02:37:47 - helen

Date:

January 2010

Duration:

4 days

Parks visited:

Serengeti, Ngorongoro

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Comment:Let\'s go through the spectrum here:

Ecological Awareness: Our driver threw a glass bottle at a lion in an attempt to wake it up. He allowed a girl in our group to feed a half-eaten apple to a baboon. We went off track on several occasions to approach within a foot of hard to spot animals. There was a general lack of anything educational that could have helped the group in understanding how to behave around wildlife and what conservation is.

Service: The guide got angry at us on several occasions because we asked him where he was going. He would harshly ask us what we wanted and press on the gas pedal to ensure that we understood he was annoyed. We were by the end nervous about asking him anything and had to make sure he didn\'t interpret us the wrong way. Maybe there was a language barrier, but it came off highly unprofessional. He was less of a tour guide and more of a driver who we had to prod to get any descriptions and information on the animals/landscape we were seeing.

Accommodation: We stayed at the Sopa lodge in both the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. The accommodations were really nice with breathtaking views. But you would probably end up staying at these places even without Leopard Tours so I wouldn\'t attribute this success to Leopard Tours.

I get the impression that Leopard Tours is one of those companies that\'s all about making money at the expense of their customers and even the wildlife in the Serengeti. They do the minimum of what\'s expected and that\'s that.

Comment:We will never use Leopard Tours again!! We travel around the world every Christmas as a passion. This year was a long planned Tanzania trip to see the wildebeest migrate to the Serengeti. We eagerly awaited this trip.
We booked a 7 day safari including multiple parks and a private vehical for 4. Parks visited were Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater.
Our experience with Leopard was the worst travel experience and here is why:
-- They were responsive till they got payment. After that they responded to about every third email.
-- I asked for credit card payment facilities at the start. They then added a 6.5% fee to use the card that was never disclosed. They also threatened numerous times to cancel our trip if payment was not made 24 hours after all the details were confirmed to THEIR satisfaction, not ours!!
-- On arrival the first discussion was additional costs that we had asked for. Immediate payment was insisted upon.
-- We wanted to upgrade some of the services, add a balloon ride etc. They were completely non-flexible in arranging this and giving us partial credit for services already paid. They were however very happy to tack on the $500 fee for this immediately.
-- We had booked and paid for a single female taxi back from Ngorongoro Crater to Kili airport in addition to the safari as one person was leaving early. They originallly quoted $106 for this. On arrival they made this $212 as we had to pay for the trip to the hotel too. On the date of travel they tacked on $45 for the transfer from Arusha to the airport and the taxi would not leave till the driver was handed the money in the morning. In addition, they insisted on stpping at the office to "make payment" although the driver had the cash and we had told them that the lady was not comfortable dealing with their staff. But they did not listen and did as they please, all for $45 after we paid them over $6500!!!
Overall they are not the cheapest tour operator. They are amongst the largest and and act that way. their front office staff does not understand customer interactions.
In conclusinn, I will never use this group again nd I hope you do not too.